Removing scooter parking solves no safety problems

When a problem in life arises, the wisest look for solutions others have used successfully. UGA Parking Services does no such thing.

In Mondays article in the Red and Black about “Safe Scooter Practices,” parking services is quoted saying that they “want to move these corrals off the sidewalks and move them to surface lots.” This sounds great but what does that really mean? It means that they are going to reduce the number of scooter parking areas from the current 13 to only 6 scooter parking areas that are much less central.

This does solve their problem, but by simply making the scooters disappear. The solution lies in the policy of many of our rival schools such as University of Florida, Clemson, Auburn, and Georgia Tech.

If one simply looks at the parking maps on their websites and their scooter parking policies, it is quickly discovered that there is a scooter parking space by most buildings, and that scooters and motorcycles park in the same spaces. Even furthermore, at all of the schools listed except for Florida, 50cc scooters do not have to pay to park.

Who would have ever imagined that by increasing access to parking, that the current scooter problem as described by parking services would be alleviated? Well, I guess the answer here is “not parking services.”

Camren Gober
Junior, Rabun
Landscape Architecture

Source: Red And Black